Addison Morton Walker は、新聞の漫画Beetle Bailey と Hi and Loisで最もよく知られるアメリカの漫画家でした。彼はその技術でかなり人気がありましたが、実は彼が用語 Gawlixes?

Beetle Bailey の作者である Mort Walker は、漫画で不適切な言葉やその他の卑猥な言語の代わりに使用される記号を表すために、用語 “grawlixes” を作り出しました。

Grawlixes とは何ですか？

The term grawlix refers to a character or group of characters frequently replacing vulgar language. It is the visual equivalent of bleeping out a word.

The unpronounceable symbols that can be found above the number row on your computer keyboard, including the at sign (@), pound sign or octothorpe (#), dollar sign ($), percent sign (%), ampersand (&), and asterisk (*), are typically used to create grawlixes.

Although grawlixes were used in comics before him, the late cartoonist Mort Walker, who created Beetle Bailey, is credited with coining the term.

The Lexicon of Comicana, a book released in 1980, contains the terminology that Walker invented for the many comic book cliches. Walker also came up with the terms briffit for the cloud of dust left behind when a character flees quickly, and plewds for the sweat drops visible when a character is under stress. A spiral-shaped sign was also frequently present in Walker’s grawlixes.

The origin of the word grawlix is unknown. However, it is noteworthy that it sounds similar to the angry mumbling sound associated with the growl. It probably suited Beetle Bailey, whose lead character was a slothful army private, to need to show rage in a funny manner using suggested adult language. Since the strip was set on an army installation where kids weren’t often depicted as characters, it’s believable that vulgarity would come to the surface. Sergeant Snorkel and other characters would have found it convenient to vent their annoyance with the grawlix.

A grawlix’s symbols may occasionally be chosen to correspond to the word it is supposed to represent. In the heading $#*! For instance, according to my father, it is probably not a coincidence that the dollar sign and the octothorpe look similar to the first two letters of the word. (Source: Merriam Webster)

罵倒にシンボルを使う起源

シンボルで罵倒することには長い歴史があります（多くのものと同様に、古代エジプトにまでさかのぼると考える人もいます）。しかし、今日のシンボル罵倒のビュッフェを引き起こしたのは、二人のやんちゃな子供、ハンスとフリッツのせいです。彼らは1900年代初頭の漫画『The Katzenjammer Kids』に登場しました。子供たちを創作した20歳のドイツ系移民漫画家ルドルフ・ダークスは、スピーチバブルと罵倒の漫画的アイコンを発明した功績が広く認められています。

シンボル罵倒の最初の例は、1902年のエピソードで見られます。そのエピソードでは、いたずら好きなカツェンジャマーたちがはしごの上でハイン叔父さんにいたずらをします。怒り狂ったハイン叔父さんは、[star]-[anchor]-!-!-?-[dung pile?]というスピーチバブルを放ちます；錨（アンカー）の使用は特に面白く、まさに船乗りのような罵倒です。（出典：Dictionary) 

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